Perhaps Expat888 you are correct, hopefully however there is some substance to this gesture and not the usual business.
And maybe that substance can help calm areas of unrest in various regions of EA*RTH...

1 knows many have extreme doubt in many high ranking officials in the political arenas, but I still try to remain optimistic that the leaders of some
of the Super Powers of the planet can get together and find better ways to upkeep and manage the responsibilities upon them.

Obama and Putin are besties, you all know this. Remember a couple few years ago he told Medvedev that he'd have more latitude to help Russia in his
second term. Medvedev promised to, "transmit this information to Vladimir."

BAM!!! Crimea and Ukraine. And Syria, sort of.

Just because Russia is having a little economic blip doesn't mean Obama is some harda**. Whenever either one of these guys needs to look tough to
their nation they spit some vitriol at the other. But, life goes on as usual.

I sincerely hope that good comes from this. Even if just a chess move, at least Putin appears to care. And while I respect Mr Obama Hussein Barry
Barack Soetoro(or whatever the heck its name is) as Commander In Chief, I feel he lacks not only the intestinal fortitude to even approach the
situation at hand, but the intelligence level and the ability to overcome his arrogance so he could reach a mutual agreement and not just dictate one.
I can't help but to grimmace at the OP's photo as Mr Obama stares at his empty accosting hand while Putin maintains direct eye contact. The lies are
in the eyes. Our leader doesn't even have the social skills to perform effectively on a global scale imho. Hopefully our next elected President
brings a big broom to sweep up this mess. :/

Same as Bush I suppose, he was not a commander in chief as well.. he's just doing what's being told/ordered and I guess he doesn't got another option
even.
Why Bush always looked so silly, now you now why.. it's a big joke.

Putin demanding equality with the US is a complete joke. It isn't even close.

And therein lies the problem.

1. If we are a 'democratic republic' as we claim,respect and equality should be given to other countries in the world due not to a] How big an army
they have or b] what they're GDP is. They should be given equality simply because they are another country sharing this planet with us.

Also,while we may have a larger military,it has been done at the cost of our infrastructure and social services.In other words,the people have
suffered for this military. Then on top of that,in order to justify having this military and its upkeep and gross wastefulness.We must keep wars going
to keep the masses believing that this is necessary.

When the Europeans first got here,they felt that the Indians were savages because they ate with their hands instead of having forks etc. to use. We
have gotten no better at our thinking by claiming that another country deserves less equality due to them not having as large a military or GDP. Those
countries that are our 'allies' are such not because they feel we are wonderful people,but because they have been subjugated to us. Britain($578.6
bl) still owes us money,Germany($174.4 bl) still does,other countries owe us money as well and we will wring every last dime out of them no matter
what else it costs them.

Putin has been asking all year for America to give respect and equality to Russia,why should you even have to ask? I don't care if its The Solomon
Islands,each country has a right to be treated equal.This is basic human rights 101. If we were to show each country respect and equality,a]they
wouldn't be so happy to see us fall on our faces,and b]we wouldn't be having so many problems getting along with others.

We have yet to learn to 'play nice' with other countries due to our 'exceptionalism'. We need to realize and in a big hurry that one country does
not make up a world. There are another 198 countries out there,and though they may not have as much money ,or as large an army or whatever the case
may be,they deserve the same rights as all countries.Ruling out of fear only lasts so long before others tire of it.

In WW2 we were seen as the conquering heros and welcomed by oppressed countries,not so now.Now I'm afraid that we are looked at more like the
relative from hell that won't go back home after the holidays are up. No matter how big our army or how much money we have,if we want to live in this
world and have REAL respect,we need to give other countries a say in how things go in this world. Or we can simply act like Pinky and Brain and try to
take over the world. And then crawl back in our hole when we fall and all the other countries are laughing at us.

Smart move on Putin's part. A transparent move but smart. Putin knows the West's demands. They want Russian troops out of Ukraine and they want
Russia to stop supporting the rebels. They'll even probably let Russia keep Crimea. We also know Putin won't except to these demands. At the same
time this lets him claim that the West is being unreasonable and all he wants his peace. Of course the rest of the world will see through this move.
At the same time this lets Russian media spin it in Putin's favor and make take some pressure off him.

originally posted by: Hijinx
a reply to: noeltrotsky
I don't recall Russia calling for Equality in military..... Is that what Putin said? Did I miss something, or is a mans worth still measured by the
size of the gun he carries and nothing else.

When dealing with Russia on the international stage the size of your gun is critical. You should read about the country sometime.

originally posted by: Jamie1
Seriously, who gives a sh#@ what Putin thinks or says? Is anybody really that stupid to think it's not for his own self-interest?

There really are people that believe Putin is looking out for more than his own personal interest. He is looking out for his own countries interests,
which happen to overlap with some of the west's interests, which by default is serving some of MY interests because it is throwing a stick in the
spoke of the west's monopoly on interests.

Like Putin or not, he is the boss of his lands and he can make deals at the table where his western counterparts have no real authority to male deals,
they are nothing more than salesmen for banks and corporations.

Putin is basically carrying the world on his shoulders at the moment. And in that respect, I would say he is holding up quite well. If he moved out of
the way, the west's monopoly on interests would carry on and we all know that where the west sees interest, there are many dead bodies to follow.

Bin Laden has been dead for over a decade, Obama didn't end any wars(he started a couple to boot, remember Libya?), gas prices are the result of Big
Oil corporations playing economic warfare against Syria/Russia, and the 8% unemployment figures are a complete joke. Try 20%, after factoring in
people who haven't been looking for a job for over a few months.

Civil liberties are at an all-time low, he signed the NDAA, gutted healthcare, lied about almost every campaign promise, etc etc etc.

I hear this alot from some members here. *Trying to bolster Moscow by tying them to Beijing.

China looks out for China, they'd be more than happy to throw Russia under the bus if it get's in their way to becoming a Global power.

Make no mistakes.

No. China knows full well that to maintain (at least a semblance of) global balance of power, the #2 and #3 nations must maintain economic and
military ties so the #1 power can't achieve total domination. It's geopolitics 101. They need Russia for their own survival.

Russia really did help win WW2 but instead of helping rebuild Europe they became the very thing they were fighting. How many people died after the
war because of Russian land grabbing? And it seems they are trying to gain back some of the lost power..........They should be worrying about how to
make life better for Russians.

You had better believe the Russian people are going to figure this out in short order as the Russian economy falls apart. They are at best a
regional power.......That is being kind. Italy is a bigger world power.

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